© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday reiterated that the BJP, just like the Congress, will be finished politically in the days to come for allegedly misusing central agencies against leaders of the Opposition parties, drawing a parallel between the functioning of the two biggest national parties when in power.
“Earlier, the Congress used to misuse the central agencies and now the BJP is doing it. The Congress is finished now. The BJP, too, will meet a similar fate. They are only sending agencies after those parties who are fighting the BJP,” the SP chief said during a press conference after his party’s two-day national executive that started in Kolkata on Saturday.
Batting for the formation of a non-Congress front to fight the BJP, Yadav said, “Uttar Pradesh is the only state which can stop the BJP as it has the largest number of seats. We will defeat the BJP in UP. The entire country is looking up to the SP. The BJP has told many lies, be it prices of diesel, petrol or LPG or price rise.”
The saffron party, he alleged, is working for big corporate houses.
Whether the “misuse” of the central agencies will increase as the 2024 Lok Sabha election approaches, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said, “It might be the case but it won’t help the saffron camp as preparations for the parliamentary polls would start in the next few months”.
About the political resolution adopted in the two-day national executive, Yadav said the party would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the BJP is defeated in UP and the country in the election next year.
He also criticised the Congress over its role in UP’s politics.
As what are the plans of the proposed opposition front ahead of the general elections, Akhilesh said, “The goal is to defeat the BJP. Presently efforts are on to forge an opposition front. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao are making efforts.”
Akhilesh also hinted at his party contesting from the Amethi and Raebareli parliamentary seats, traditionally considered the Congress strongholds where the SP has not fielded any candidate since 1996. In 2019, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi lost from Amethi even as his mother Sonia Gandhi won from Raebareli.
“I was recently in Amethi. Our party helps the Congress win elections in these two seats but when there is injustice against SP workers, the Congress doesn’t utter a word. Our leaders say we should contest the elections from these seats. We will speak to our party workers and take a decision on this,” he added.
The Congress had promised to conduct caste census during the UPA-2 government, but “backtracked” later, Yadav said.
“We want the BJP-led central government to conduct caste census. Many leaders are demanding this. But, like the Congress, the BJP is also not keen on doing it.”
On the strike of power employees in UP, he said, “The BJP government promised to meet employees’ demand ahead of the Assembly elections but did not do so after forming government. Now they think they can handle the problem with the help of police. They should understand that police can not handle production, distribution and other works of the electricity department.”
On Friday, Yadav and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee during a meeting at her residence had claimed that the two parties would be maintaining an equal distance from both the BJP and the Congress. Banerjee had agreed on the formation of a new front of Opposition parties without the Congress.
(With PTI inputs)
